End of the Line

The Frenship Tigers and the Denton Guyer Wildcats met in the Class 4A Division II Region I final at Jones AT&T Stadium Saturday afternoon. the Wildcats won on a last-second field-goal to win 37-35 (Geoffrey McAllister/Avalanche-Journal)

All season, Frenship had found a way to win by gaining that one extra yard, getting that all-important touchdown or making that extra big play on defense.

In the Class 4A Division I Region I Final at Jones AT&T Stadium Saturday afternoon, it was Denton Guyer that took that ability and put an end to the sixth-ranked Tigers’ perfect season. Sam Alspach’s 24-yard field goal as time expired brought the Wildcats all the way back from a 21-point first-quarter deficit for a 37-35 victory.

“I think the thing that happened mostly from the second quarter on and into the second half was we were having a hard time blocking their defensive front,” Frenship coach Brad Davis said. “Big plays kept us in the game, but we never got consistent where I get into a rhythm calling plays and getting a drive going, at least after the first quarter we didn’t. The first quarter was all ours and then we had to hang on, and we hung on until about two seconds to go in the game.”

The loss brings to a close one of the best seasons in school history. The Tigers (13-1) started the year unranked, having to replace all 11 starters on defense and most of the offense, but were able to capture their fifth straight district championship and reach at least the regional final round for the seventh time in the last eight years.

But like so many seasons of the past, it came up short of the school’s first state championship, and this time it can be attributed more to what the Wildcats (12-2) did than what the Tigers did not.

Guyer spotted Frenship a 21-0 lead as the Tigers scored on their opening drive of the game, then converted two Wildcats turnovers into points. Quarterback Tyler Lloyd threw three first-quarter touchdown passes including two to Lance Ratliff, who also had a 74-yard TD run and a 45-yard TD grab in the second half.

Frenship’s next seven drives, however, went nowhere, resulting in five punts, another blocked for a Guyer touchdown and the end of the first half. In that span, Guyer was able to get its offense going and tied the game at 21 late in the third quarter on a 3-yard Jaimaine Wilhite run.

“We came out with some fire and did what we’d planned on doing,” said Ratliff, who accounted for 231 of Frenship’s 352 total yards. “Then they got into a rhythm and got back into it. I don’t really know what they did to throw us off, but they started moving the ball a lot better than they were in the first quarter.”

The Tigers’ first three drives covered 173 yards, and they gained just 179 the rest of the game. By comparison, Guyer finished the game with 431 total yards against a defense that had allowed just 243 per game coming in, and that was with the inflated passing numbers from Denton Ryan last week.

“We just buckled down,” Guyer defensive tackle Taylor Bible said. “We remembered the Boswell game (a 21-13 Guyer win) and felt if we kept playing like this (Frenship) will beat us. So we just started playing all out. I was like, “This is not going to happen to us. We’re going to win.’”

But it didn’t come until the last half of the fourth quarter.

After Guyer tied it, Frenship got the lead right back when Ratliff took a double reverse and outraced the Guyer defense down the sideline for a 74-yard touchdown run. It was at that point the game took on a similar feel to last week’s second-half scorefest with Denton Ryan.

Guyer cut it to 28-24 on its next drive when Alspach drilled a field goal from 29 yards out, but two plays into Frenship’s next drive Ratliff caught a 45-yard touchdown when he out-jumped Guyer cornerback Josh Stewart for the catch, putting Frenship up 35-24.

Frenship’s defense came up with a huge stand, taking over on downs at its 39 and needing to run 6:23 off the clock. But on second down, running back Bryan Seicks fumbled and Guyer recovered at the Frenship 43. Guyer quarterback J.W. Walsh hit Daniel Harkins for a 34-yard touchdown and Austin Otto for the two-point conversion to pull the Wildcats to within 35-32 with 4:44 remaining.

“That kind of shifted the momentum right there,” Ratliff said of the fumble. “But we can’t blame anything on anybody. Football’s not about blame. I don’t think they wanted it any more, they just found some weaknesses in our defense and took advantage of them.”

A holding penalty on first down pushed the Tigers back to their own 9 on the ensuing drive, and that ended up killing it and forcing a punt. Davis, however, chose to play field position and had punter Ben Christian run out of the back of the end zone for a safety, pulling Guyer to within 35-34 with 3:06 remaining.

Guyer took the ensuing free kick and started from its own 33. Two straight completions for 33 yards by Walsh and a 17-yard run by Wilhite put the Wildcats at the Frenship 15. Guyer ran the clock down to two seconds to allow Alspach to set up for the field goal, and he nailed it as time expired, ending a Frenship season in which it tied for most single-season wins in school history.

“I felt like we had to stake the safety for field position and I’ll defend that. I’d do it again,” an emotional Davis said. “They made a heck of a drive and their kicker had been on all day.

“We played our hearts out, they played their hearts out and it was a great game, and they’ll represent our region well in the semifinals. That defense is by far the best we’ve played this year and we put up 35 points on them. We’re very proud of our kids.”